New 'Green Travel Districts' for Birmingham to entice drivers out of cars

CGI of how Kings Heath High Street might look after a major transport shake-up which would see it named a Green Travel District

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Eleven areas in Birmingham are to be designated as Green Travel Districts as part of a major shake-up to encourage people out of their cars.

The 11 districts are expected to be the first of many and will be unveiled on November 13 in the Birmingham Mobility Action Plan (BMAP) white paper, which is working towards the city council's 20-year vision for improving transport.

The Green Travel Districts will see investment focused on public transport, walking and cycling to try to encourage people to use cars less, with the city's road infrastructure stretched and carbon reduction targets to hit.

The 11 areas are:

● The city centre

● The area around Jaguar Land Rover's Castle Bromwich plant, including Castle Vale and The Fort

● Around the proposed life sciences campus in Selly Oak

● Perry Barr including Witton, the Food Hub and the Advanced Manufacturing Hub

● The Small Heath and Bordesley Green retail areas

● The Soho Road retail area

● Longbridge town centre, including ITEC Park

● Tyseley Environmental Enterprise District

● Kings Heath High Street

● Northfield town centre

● Sutton Coldfield town centre.

The city council is also planning "travel behaviour initiatives" to encourage people out of their cars to create areas where "residents, workers and visitors can safely walk, cycle or take public transport".

The vision is for districts with less congestion, less pollution and fewer accidents to contribute towards Birmingham's carbon and air quality targets.

It forms part of the BMAP white paper, which will be launched later this month.

David Harris, transport policy manager for the city council, said the authority was keen to work with major employers and communities to identify opportunities to change transport use.

He said: "This is not a forced approach but something where we want to work with different areas about a package of measures to encourage more sustainable trips and a different approach to transport around the city.

"Purely focusing on radial routes isn't necessarily the answer. We need to work with businesses, stakeholders and residents to encourage changes in travel behaviour."

He added: "It is being pragmatic. We are not being anti-car – the car is needed but there might be one or two trips a week where you don't need the car.

"You can't just keep on building lots more roads – we have done that before and it doesn't work.

"We have to find new ways of moving people around the city. There is only so much intelligent transport systems can do. At some point you can only have so many cars and so many parking spaces."

While each district will be different, the council used the example of Kings Heath High Street, which could have much more space for pedestrians to meet, shop and socialise and a more welcoming offer for cyclists in the centre with people encouraged to arrive by high-quality public transport.

As part of the development of Longbridge town centre, the area is focused on sustainable forms of transport, allowing people to access the jobs, services and training opportunities there by foot, bike, train and Sprint bus rapid transit.

The 11 areas were selected after a study which looked across all the city and were identified for having the potential to respond to a changing focus.

However, the council said they would be the first of many, with Green Travel Districts being introduced throughout the city over the next two decades.